Color Inspiration Challenge #52

Here's my card for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge. I cut the fish/bowl using my Cricut ~ the cartridge is "Life's a Beach". The fish is cut from light yellow and mustard color papers, but the mustard color is showing very orange in the photo. It isn't really that orange. I cut coral in the same mustard color and added some white coral because it needed a lighter color. There is a piece of vellum on the back on the fish bowl to give the bowl of water effect. I like the way it turned out :) Hope you like it, too!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 6

Here is my card for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge.

It's funny how I start out with a specific idea and it changes 3 times before I'm done and what I end up with isn't at all what I had started off doing. But in the end this is how it turned out :) Hope you like it!

Stamps used:
"All In A Row" (background) by Stampin' Up
"Make A WIsh & Cupcake" by Studio G

This is funny. And gross.

Bella Stamps

There is a line of rubber stamps called "Stamping Bella" that are *very* popular. Bella, a woman, is featured on the stamps. It seems like all the stamping blogs I read have cards that feature these Bella stamps. I've looked at their site and the stamps are cute and all, but there is one thing I can't get past ~ she has no hands. Well, she does, but they are just sticks. the rest of her is normal ~ she has normal legs and head and all that, but then she has these stick arms and some kind of little oval for hands. See them here. In some cases it isn't really something you'd focus on, but in other cases it's all I notice. Maybe it's just me? See if it's something you think you'd notice if I had not pointed it out. The only 2 I'm interested in are "bikababeabella" and "cruisabella" on page 1.

Questions answered by kids

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?

(1) You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.
- Alan, age 10

(2) No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with.
- Kristen, age 10


WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

(1) Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.
- Camille, age 10

(2) No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married.
- Freddie, age 6


HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

(1) You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
- Derrick, age 8


WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

(1) Both don't want any more kids.
- Lori, age 8


WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?

(1) Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
- Lynnette, age 8

(2) On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.
- Martin, age 10


WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS NOT GOING WELL?

(1) I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-Craig, age 9


WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

(1) When they're rich.
- Pam, age 7

(2) The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that.
- Curt, age 7

(3 ) The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, you should marry them and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
- Howard, age 8


IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?

It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.
- Anita, age 9


HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?

(1 ) There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
- Kelvin, age 8


HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

(1 ) Tell your wife that she looks pretty - even if she looks like a truck.
- Ricky, age 10

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 5

I'm entering Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge.

It's a simple birthday card. Not a lot of frills on this one ~ I kept it very simple. I thought about doing some coloring on the elephant and the mouse, but since I am limited to the four colors, it seemed like it would be a lot of pink. I did add some pink chalk, tho the camera didn't photograph it very well. You might be able to see it on the close up. The ribbon is more bias tape I had in my stash. It turned out to be the perfect color to match the gray paper!

Color Inspiration Challenge #51

Here is my card for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge.

The colors of the bear are not showing up very well. Even in the close up it's hard to see that I used a colored pencil to "shade" him in. It turned out pretty good considering I was a little hesitant about those colors. I think he's cute :)

The ribbon is actually bias tape....I have no idea how old it is. When I go to estate sales I always buy the sewing stuff if I think it will work for my projects. The packaging for this mustard colored bias tape is very old, it's made in USA (everything these days seems to be made in China) and 5 yards of it was only .25 cents.
I paid much less than .25 cents for what was left in the package. For $1 I got a big zip lock bag full of all different colors of bias tape as well as some lace and some satin ribbon. So keep your eye out for the sewing stuff at sales! You can score some really cool stuff.

Hope you like the card :)

Chocolate pancakes for breakfast?

*crinkles nose*

I don't think I could eat chocolate pancakes for breakfast....maybe dessert.

Stamp Luck

I've had my eye on a rubber stamp for quite a while now and a few months ago I decided to finally order it. Just my luck, they were sold out! I checked back frequently to see if it was back in stock, but it never was. I emailed the company, who says they respond to every email they get within 24 hours, but never got a response. So typical these days. Then one day I was surfing around the web and I found a woman's blog who said she is a designer for that company! I emailed her and told her about everything and she wrote back to me and copied the woman who in charge! I emailed back and forth with the woman in charge and she said it would be a few weeks before the stamp was back in stock and she'd get back to me. That was in early April. Yesterday I wrote to her to see if she had an update since I'd not heard from her. She said there is a delay with the manufacture and didn't elaborate. I took that to mean new stock is either never coming or it will be a long time. What further makes me believe this to be true is.....she offered me her stamp! She said it's been used twice by her, but if I want it, she'd give it to me -- FREE. She is even paying the postage to send it to me. I think this is really nice of her and I was more than happy to take her offer. I'm fairly sure she would not give me her stamp if she expected new stock to come in. So I happened to run into some good rubber stamp luck on that one. Of course, I'll have to wait and see if she really sends it to me.

Speaking of stamps, I have been stockpiling handmade cards with the idea I will open an Etsy.com store in November. Most of what I have is non holiday stuff. I picked November as a month to shoot for because I figure people might be looking for holiday cards to send out around that time. But, I need some opinions. I want to do sets of holiday cards rather than individual cards but I'm not sure how many to put in a set and how much to sell them for? Should it be 5, 10, 15 in a set? I could easily do 5 in a set, but if I had to do more than that, I bet I would get overwhelmed with the sheer quantity I'd have to produce.....that's a lot of cards! I will have to learn to pick simple designs and not fuss too much....eek. As far as cost....no idea. I am the worst at looking at my work and determining value. The cards on Etsy are currently selling for around $3.00-$4.50 each. I found a set of 6 cards for $10.00....not too many sets that I could find. It would be interesting to put together a birthday card package but have it be gender specific. So 5 guy cards or 5 girl cards. Or perhaps using my photos to create cards. I also thought of making cards you don't see a lot of, like Happy Retirement, Bosses Day, Admin Assist Day...stuff like that. I welcome your honest opinions on all these points and also welcome ideas I may not have thought of :)

Oprah's 2008 Stanford Commencement Address

There have been comments about her address being too much about herself. But I think the people who see it that way did not get her message. She is using herself as an example. She is an icon that many people aspire to be like and I think she gives a clear picture of starting out just like many of them will, but she aspired to be better and do something more....and did it....and so can they.

I know it's nearly 30 minutes long, but it's worth listening to. You don't have to watch it, just put it on in the background while you are paying bills or whatever because I think it's worth it.

I had to look at my 101 things list again just to stay on top of things and see if I inadvertently done something and forgot to cross it off. I crossed off number 11 because all it says is "a photo worth some money" and I did get paid....so I say it counts....

1. See The Boss in concert
2. Go to the Oprah show
3. Go back to Denmark
4. Live by the sea
5. Go to New York at Christmastime
6. Sell something on Etsy
7. Retire early (please, please, please)
8. Or at least work less than 40 hours a week...
9. Plus, work more than one day a week from home...
10. Then, when I retire, volunteer at an animal shelter
11. Take a money shot (a photo worth some money)
12. Publish something (written)
13. Go see Maya Angelou speak (I better get on this one)
14. Take the Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle
15. Wear a bikini....in public....and feel ok about it
16. Take Greg to a Bobby Flay restaurant
17. Go to Prince Edward Island
18. Have a fancy Christmas party at my house
19. Go on a shopping spree with someone else's money
20. Have a realllllly beautiful craft room/office
21. Snorkel and see lots of pretty (small) fish
22. Go to Ireland
23. Age well
24. Wear a ball style gown to a fancy event
25. Enjoy reading again
26. Eat a croissant in France
27. Understand what all the buttons on my camera do
28. Renew our vows
29. Take the White House tour
30. See the Vietnam War Memorial
31. Have my backyard be spectacularly beautiful
32. Take a road trip across America
33. Stay at a nice ski lodge while it snows outside
34. Cook like Ina Garten
35. Have a chef quality kitchen
36. Feel peace
37. Love my hair!
38. Go to some kind of craft convention
39. Sell my baked goods
40. Be healthy
41. Live green(er)
42. Take an Alaskan cruise
43. Eat 70% organic
44. Have a photo of mine in a magazine or calendar
45. Camp at the Wild Animal Park
46. Win a costume contest
47. Decorate my *entire* house
48. Sponsor a needy child
49. Clean out my craft room closet (ugh)
50. Well....keep my craft room clean in general
51. Be on the Martha Stewart show (dream big, right?)
52. Have less regret
53. Make outstanding coleslaw
54. Go on a spa retreat
55. Stop passing up opportunity
56. Speak German well (ha!)
57. Learn to line dance well (ha!)
58. Discover California culinarily
59. Vacation in the Hamptons
60. Worry less about what others think
61. Love hard...forgive harder
62. See the cherry blossoms in DC in spring
63. Watch all my Buffy DVD's again
64. Take another photography class
65. Be an extra
66. Write an autobiography...could be interesting
67. Grow a vegetable garden
68. Learn to sew
69. Meet my neighbors...hopefully new ones
70. Run thru the sprinklers every summer
71. Feel financially secure
72. Give 100 Barbie dolls away at Christmas!
73. See the 17 mile drive in a convertible
74. Bake more. A lot more.
75. Send Oprah a birthday card
76. Have a lemon tree in the back yard
77. Make homemade lemonade more than once a year
78. Wear jewelry again
79. See more movies
80. See more sunsets
81. See more sunrises
82. Live my life the way I want to
83. Get a more professional massages
84. Buy a custom pair of jeans
85. Eat at Spago's in Beverly Hills for my birthday one year
86. Leave work at lunch more...I usually sit at my desk
87. Use those darn exercise videos I bought!
88. Take an art class of some kind
89. Go to Atlantis
90. Start scrapbooking my photos
91. Turn my bedroom into an relaxing resort style retreat
92. Learn more history
93. Ride a horse on the beach
94. Make persimmon cookies or bread
95. Go to one of my high school reunions (yes, Laura...you, too)
96. Get a Sleep Number or TempurPedic bed
97. Take more pictures of Henry...our oldest girl
98. Have picnic style dinners at the beach with Greg a few times a year
99. Make sculpey ornaments for the Christmas tree (example)
100. Leave work....at work
101. Make a difference